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Videos: Hundreds of desperate Afghans rush for last flights out of Kabul

According to TOLO News, all commercial flights have been suspended at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, and people have been asked not to crowd.

Written by : TNM Staff

Chaos ensued as thousands of desperate residents rushed to the Kabul airport in an attempt to leave the country as the Taliban took over control of Afghanistan’s capital city on Sunday, August 15. Visuals from the Kabul airport showed crowds racing towards aircrafts that were taking off, others desperately trying to climb on aircraft, a crowd pushing and shoving its way up a staircase, trying to board a plane, with some people hanging off the railings, hoping to get out of the country even as gunshots are heard in the background.

However, with many embassies relocating to the military base in the airport, only a part of the airport is open for civilians, causing a massive rush. Reports say soldiers opened fire to control the crowd, and three people were killed in this incident. The Kabul international airport, which is closed to all commercial flights, reportedly is the only exit point for people leaving Afghanistan. Now reports say that Taliban has gained access to the entry of the airport as well. 

According to TOLO News, all commercial flights have been suspended at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul. The airport issued a statement on Monday, asking civilians to avoid crowding at the airport. Taliban insurgents swept into Afghanistan's capital on Sunday after the Afghan government collapsed and president Ashraf Ghani left the country.

Another video showed hundreds of Afghan citizens running alongside a US Air Force aircraft that was preparing for take-off and moving along the runway. Dozens had climbed onto the wheels of the aircraft, and a devastating video showed a man falling off the aircraft that was in the air. Reports say three people who climbed onto the aircraft fell to their deaths when the plane was midair. 

The US said it will transfer out of the country thousands of American citizens who have been living in Afghanistan, as well as locally employed staff of the US mission in Kabul, their families, and other vulnerable Afghan nationals.

Also read: Taliban enter Kabul – What happens next?

The Taliban, on Sunday, seized the last major city outside of Kabul held by the country's central government, cutting off the Afghan capital to the east. The collapse of Jalalabad leaves Afghanistan's central government in control of just Kabul and six other provincial capitals out of the country's 34.

US President Joe Biden, in April this year, had announced that all American troops would be withdrawn from Afghanistan by September 11 this year, thus bringing to end the country's longest war, spanning across two decades. Since the US-led invasion that ousted the Taliban after the September 11, 2001 attacks, America had spent more than USD 1 trillion in fighting and rebuilding in Afghanistan. About 2,400 US soldiers have been killed, along with tens of thousands of Afghan troops, Taliban insurgents, and Afghan civilians.

The US Embassy has urged its citizens to leave the country while scaling back its presence. The US has rushed 5,000 troops to secure the airport and help evacuate American diplomatic personnel as the Taliban closed in on the city.  Overnight, the near-constant buzz of helicopters hung over central Kabul as the Green Zone that contained much of the foreign presence emptied out.

Also read: Afghan govt collapses, Taliban on verge of controlling country: 5 things to know

With agency inputs

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